


Encouragement in the Dark

by SophieRipley



Category: Zootopia (2016)
Genre: Behind the Scenes, Encouragement, Exposition, One Shot, motivation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-19
Updated: 2016-09-29
Packaged: 2018-08-09 16:24:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7808818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SophieRipley/pseuds/SophieRipley
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Judy Hopps's time at the academy was difficult and marked at first by failure after failure, and antagonism by the drill instructor.  She never knew or cared what the instructor's motivations were, but had she been told, she might not have believed it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Voices in the darkness speak; one familiar and one less known.  A polar bear, usually angry and shouting, and a lion with a golden voice and a mayoral bearing.  But tonight, deep into quiet hours, they speak in hushed tones in the office off the cadet barracks at the ZPD police academy.  The lion speaks first, pouring a finger of scotch for each of them.

“I think you push her too hard.”

“I don’t push her hard enough.  I’m soft on her.”

“Not hard enough?  I’ve seen the things you say, the things you put her through.  A rhino?  Really?  How was she supposed to win that boxing match?”

“How would she win it on the street?  You think I’m too hard, but look at what the city does to lion cops.  To _rhino_ cops.  Your initiative let her apply, but it doesn’t give her a pass.  I say the same things to her that I say to all recruits.”

“She’s smaller than other recruits.”

“She’s smarter, too.”

There’s a long silence as they sip their drinks and gaze through the open doorway to the bunny’s enormous bunk, big enough to swallow her whole.  The rabbit didn’t realize they knew she’d been up after hours studying and training.  Didn’t realize they’d seen her running the track alone in the cold when everyone else was at mess.  They had noticed, and had watched.  The lion spoke up again.

“Did you ever think that if you were kinder to her she might get through this more easily?”

“Did you ever think that if I were kinder to her, she might die on patrol because she expected a friendly hand to bail her out?  I’m not going easy on her.  I won’t.”

“You really hate her, don’t you?”

“If I don’t push her, and push her _hard_ , harder than any other recruit I’ve ever taught, I’ll have to carry her casket one day.”

“That’s a burden I could never bear.  I hope you never have to.”

“So do I.”

The bunny in question turned restlessly on her bed.  It was two in the morning and she’d only just gotten to sleep an hour ago.  She’d be up again in only three more, pushing herself to exhaustion as she failed again and again for another day in a row. 

This time, the polar bear spoke first.

“She’s inspiring.  I’d love to be her friend.  She goes at it hard every day, pushing herself to the breaking point.  I’d love to have a drink with her and tell her I’m sorry.”

“Why don’t you?”

“Professional distance.  She’s my student, I can never be easy on her.  Besides, she doesn’t need friends right now.  Right now, she needs enemies.  She needs conflict.  She needs someone to push her farther than she can even push herself.”

“You intend to break her completely?” 

“I intend to try.”

They watch for another long moment as the bunny slept fitfully.  Eventually, the lion speaks while refilling their drinks.

“You’re cold-hearted.”

“Only because I need to be.”

“So she needs enemies.  Why?  Friends motivate.”

“Judy Hopps has friends.  She has two hundred seventy-five of them back home.  No, friendliness doesn’t motivate Hopps.  You ever read her file?  When she was nine years old, a bully attacked her at some festival.  Until then she’d wanted to be a police officer.  But when that fox kit attacked her, her parents noted a distinct change in her:  she became _determined_.”

“Aggression fuels her?”

“Opposition, mayor.  Opposition strengthens her, like wind strengthens an oak.  In the face of an enemy, Judy Hopps becomes _defiant_.  It’s that defiance that she needs to survive this.  I’ll give her the enemy she needs to overcome things.  I’ll force her to hate me so that she’ll chew that course up and spit it back out again.”

“You’re pretty smart.”

“I know.”

“She’s going to be the best officer we’ve ever seen.  You know that, right?”

“I know that too.”

They watched the lonely, exhausted bunny turn once again in her overlarge bed, hugging a blanket to herself.  The lion spoke again, for the last time as he stood to leave.

“I think you love that bunny.”

The reply was long in coming, and spoken to an empty office.

“I think I do too.”

The bunny slept on, never aware of the exchange that had taken place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I understand the format here might be a little tough to follow, but it was done that way deliberately, inspired by Orson Scott Card's novel Ender's Game. Feedback is welcome, and I hope everyone enjoys this!


	2. Chapter 2

Two glasses of brandy were poured in the relative darkness of the office off the cadet barracks.  The bottle was small relative to the massive white paw pouring it, but the grey paw that took one glass was very small indeed.  The two females sipped their drinks before the small one, a rabbit, spoke into the darkness.

“I don’t have fond memories of this place.”

The large one, a polar bear, replied quietly.

“I didn’t expect you would.  You had trouble.  More than your fair share.”

“It was tough.  I hated you, you know.”

“I know you did.  I didn’t take it personally, though.  Drill instructors have to break the cadets so they can learn how to survive.  Even so…I hated doing that to you.  I’m sorry.”

“I understand.  I was so ready to be a police officer, but I had no idea how inept I really was.  If you hadn’t pushed me as hard as you did I wouldn’t have survived my first case.”

“He helped, I hear.  But thank you. It means a lot to me.”

“Nick?  Yeah.  I couldn’t have done it without him.  How’s he doing?”

“Your friend has a lot of willpower.  His first month here, he did terribly.  Not because he couldn’t handle it, but because none of the other recruits would so much as look at him if they could help it.  They didn’t trust him.”

They sipped their drinks, and the rabbit shook her head.

“Sounds familiar.”

“Yeah.  But then something curious happened.  He started talking to them.  They didn’t listen to him, at first, but his words were pervasive.  It took two weeks of talking at them, but Wilde managed to turn the tide.  He has friends here, now.  I was genuinely impressed.”

“That’s Nick’s greatest strength, honestly.  Give him half a moment and he can talk anyone into anything.  He even managed to get through my prejudices.”

“You really care about that fox.”

“I really do.  More than anybody else in my life.”

“He’s here for you, you know.”

“I know.”

“You mean a lot to him.  Like you said, more than anyone else.”

“I know that too.”

Silence fell for a long few minutes while the pair sipped their brandy and watched the sleeping fox, who was curled up tightly into a ball on his overlarge bed.

Finally, the rabbit spoke.

“It’s good seeing this from your side of the shouting.  I was worried for him, but…Nick’s in good hands.”

“He acts cocky, but he has a lot of innate skill.  Highly developed stamina, great attention to detail.  Thinks on his feet faster than any mammal I’ve ever seen.  In the interpersonal behavior training, he even puts you to shame.”

“Well, ouch.”

“It’s the truth.  That fox has an astounding innate sense of empathy.  I’d almost call him a mentalist.”

Nick flipped his tail, buried his nose in the end of it.  The two watched him shuffle his position for a few moments.

“I’m glad you came, Officer Hopps.”

“So am I.  It was good to see Nick, even if he’ll never know I was here.  And it was great to see you again.”

“Too few officers really stop to consider how training affected them.”

“Nick will be one of those.  He’s very aware of what happens around him, I don’t think he could fail to notice how much he will have changed.”

“I agree.  I hate to admit I didn’t like having a fox in this class, but in the last month I’ve really changed my mind.  He’s a good mammal.  I think he’ll be a great police officer.  He’ll be your partner, right?”

“If I have any say, he will.  Yeah.  Make sure my partner passes, okay?”

“He’ll pass.  I have no doubt about that.  And when he does, you make sure you take care of him.”

The bunny, who had hopped down from her seat to leave, smiled a soft, warm smile at the sleeping fox.

“I wouldn’t let anything happen to my fox.”

The polar bear lingered in the office for a time after the bunny left, and before she retired for the night she had decided she’d keep a careful eye on this pair’s career.


End file.
